Spoon

I just found this article that implies that you need to declare when you visit and that people living abroad do not have to meet the Oct deadline. I am still looking to confirm this is the canse.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/deadline-set-for-disclosing-dual-citizenship/504769.html

Edit: Of course if you are registered there, they may count you as living there as many of you have pointed out.

How technology has changed in four years...

Netflix has a decent selection of Russian language films for streaming. Recently, I have been using Amazon Instant Video. That said, I just saw that they have Brother (the Sergey Bodrov film) available for rent/buy on Amazon. I saw that one on Netflix. I think there are a few options for you but I can't say which one will be more economical for you. Amazon does have new content available for purchase but I think Netflix is overall cheaper (depending on your viewing habits). I know my wife has some site where she watches Univer all the time so there is other 'free' avenues.

When we was in process for our K1, I engaged my congressman. His office called the USCIS on my behalf to get status. Since I was over five months but less than six months, the USCIS told my congressman's office to try again when we hit the six month mark. We were approved shortly after so we never asked anything more of them. In your case, I don't think it would hurt since you are eight months in. You'd probably get the same info if you call but it engaging them will probably save you some frustration dealing with the call center and it is nice to feel like you have someone in your corner.

We were late getting a SSN. When I talked to the HR department in my company, they said it was not a big deal and had me put in a fake number to get her on my insurance. A week later, we got our new insurance card in the mail and they even back dated the insurance to our wedding date. I would just call your insurance company and figure it out with them.

Check local timelines and that should give you at least a ballpark. Average for Moscow was 90 days from NOA2 to interview and we ended up at 105 days.

Plan to redo the vacvinations or not having the records will derail the medical but contrary to what the medical folks may tell her, she CAN still go to the interview.

The fiance went to the medical today with no records and they said that was fine. She's did not get any vaccines today and the doctor told her what everyone else said, which is that she needs to get it knocked out before the AOS (she's actually had them, her records are in her home town). Unless something is in the packet saying it's a no go (obviously she didn't open it) then I think we are ok.

I hate it when a thread dies without a definitive answer, so I thought I would close the loop. If we run into another related issues, I will update (but hopefully not).

Thanks for the replies. She's not going to make it home before the interview so we are going in without it. Getting her vaccines is not an issue, I just wanted to make sure that should get the medical without an issue.

I have a quick question about the medical exam. The letter says that we need documentation of the vaccines that the fiance has gotten. She doesn't have this and I don't know if it is going to derail the medical or not. My hope is that (worse case) she has to get the vaccines again and we have to shell out the dough. I have been digging around trying to find an answer and everywhere I read seems to say that vaccines only matter for the AOS and don't really come into play before but I would rather be on the safe side and not get ambushed by a missing document.

Now why don't we agree to let this thread die.

Because the nail that sticks up gets hammered. Al, on this board, you stick up a lot. While I have appreciated some of your rants, please take this thread as a lesson on where that gets you.

Now, I am going to add my own two cents because with all your rants, I am thinking, 'Why not?'

I have been waiting longer than you for my NOA2. I have tried to wait patiently while maintaining all the love in my relationship (a nod to Baron and all his attempts to break people up that are frustrated by the wait). It's been hard to say the least. We have had a lot of arguments, off days and just plain depressing times. Today, we were rewarded with our approval. I have tried to channel all that negative energy into every positive outlet that I could. Some work, some don't but nevertheless, we made it. You can too. Take all that rage and do something with it instead of ranting on these boards everyday. The best thing I did was take a break from here and when I came back, VSC was moving again. Maybe you can do the same.

Now, one last comment about your post. I met my fiance for the first time in person right where this asswipe set off his bomb. I assure you, my first thought was not how to expedite my visa. I was fielding calls from my family who were trying to make sure she was ok. My only concern was for her and her sister. I get your frustration and I appreciate the fact that you see your mistake but FFS, take a yoga class or something.

I was wondering what the rules are for travelling during the K1 processing time.

I don't mean just a weekend here or there but going to stay for 30 - 90 days (or however long is legally allowable) in Japan and/or US to be with my fiance while we wait. I would travel back for any appointments of course. We have just applied for my K1 visa so we are in the early stages and don't expect to hear anything back for 5-6 months as per the VSC processing times and really want to spend as much time together as possible.

Being away that long would mean giving up my apartment but will still have a permanent address here and leaving my job which I was going to be doing before the end of the year to move when the K1 is processed anyhow. I just don't want anything to jeopardize the K1 process or any border crossing issues.

Any links to or info you could provide would be very much appreciated. Thx

I've spoken with my lawyer, two CBP officers when coming back to the US and the CBP office in DC. They all told me the same thing: It's a risk.

Poking around on this forum will show you a lot of stories of people that have made it in country for an extended amount of time. Basically, the only trick is that you need to convince the first CBP officer that you will go back after your allotted time. There are a bunch of ways to do that but I'll let the people that have pulled it off comment on that. Here is the rub that convinced us not to try. If you are denied entry it can still screw up you K-1. Maybe not the actual visa process but you may still get denied entry after you get your K-1. That is according to my lawyer who had this happen to one of his clients and CBP when I called them to figure out my options. It's possible that would only happen in an extreme circumstance but it was enough for us not to try. I would hit up the Canadian regional forum for good places to enter the US and methods to get you through safe.

Edit - I was looking at the wrong form.

One of my most interesting culture shock moments was on the Moscow Metro. As most of you know, Russians are pretty cold unless they know you. People would let the door just go as they walked in even if there was a babushka behind them. What surprised me more was how well the babushkas could stiff arm a door coming at them. Well, me being me, I would hold the door for people in the Metro instead of letting them contend with a heavy door in their face. It was great to see the reactions too. People would be looking down and realize something was odd. I could see in their faces that they thought I was some panhandler looking for money as they started to look up. Then that look changed to either confusion of bemusement when they realized I was an American. I even got a couple of awkward "spaseba's."

The best though was having a home cooked meal with the extended family. Made me appreciate families even more.

My question is what documents will I need to gather to show I have the income?

Looks like people answered you on filing but I didn't see an answer to this. Check the embassy website. For the Moscow embassy it says:

Financial documents from the petitioner – a US citizen: please note, that Affidavit of Support (form I-134) is not required, but may be requested. Please submit financial documents to show that the applicant will not become a public charge in the United States. Such documents may include, but are not limited to:

* Most recent year tax returns (form 1040) or tax transcripts from IRS

* Copy of bank account

* Earnings and leave statement

* W-2 forms

* Letter from employer

Take a look and see what the Manila embassy has to say or ask in the regional forums. At any rate, it's probably similar to what Moscow is asking for.

no, i have proposed to her, i guess my biggest issue lies in my family, they really wanted me to slow down. but I really love her alot, sigh, chinese family.. hard to argue and hard to not obey... but I truuly appreciate all of your saying, thank you for your replied! I am still staying with k-1.

You've got around six months before you get the visa (I don't see a time line from you so just saying) and another three months on top of that. I got some ####### from my friends that I was moving too fast until they realized I had been with my fiance for a year and we still have at least a few more months to go in the process before I get her here. I know that is different than the family pressure but this process is anything but fast. You have a lot of time to figure things out.

My fiance got stuck in this. We found out about DME and got a ticket out of SVO for the next day. When she got to SVO, she found it was basically in the same boat and she couldn't get out there either. I had already gotten to Budapest by then and she was at her wits end and didn't want to travel. Luckily, she found the strength and rolled the dice on a different plan. She grabbed a train to Kiev and then caught a flight to Budapest. We lost a day and a half of our precious time together but we were still able to have a great New Years. I guess it's like everything with this stupid process. All the trials and tribulations either break your relationship or strengthen it. In our case, once again we are a little closer after all the pain and stress.

Looks like Skype is having some issues with logins today. Be advised if you are having trouble talking to the special someone (like I am now).

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2374651,00.asp

Hello dear friends,

Thank you for your support and prayers - GOD answered all of them! GOD is Awesome!

Yesterday I finished the first part of the Chemo course, and today was the last Radiation treatment. We hope and pray that everything will be good!

Please, keep Alan in your prayers because he is also going to have a surgery which will possibly be in January.

THANK to YOU all! God Bless you!

Love, Irina.

With all the bad news about timelines, it's nice to see something good. Hang in there and I hope everything will turn out good.

First off, the international arrivals (where she will come out of customs) is on the lowest level on the extreme right of the airport (as you walk in). If you park in the hourly lot (probably best for you) it should be close. Just walk in and make sure you are heading right (and maybe down). You'll see a big crowd hanging out there so you can't miss it.

Second, when she gets on the people mover, make sure she stays near the front. If she gets pushed to the back, there will be even more people in front of her. It's not a big deal but a local trick for IAD. The secret spot is the little alcove behind the driver or to wait outside until the driver is about to close the doors. Again, this is not a big deal but since I am doing this, I might as well include all the tricks.

Third, if they make her wait in immigration (I have not gone through what you are going through yet), there is a small waiting area in the back corner of the immigration area. The only reason I mention it is because she may have cell coverage back there. Hopefully, she will scoot on through. From what I have read on here, she can get into the US citizens line. One thing I always do there is go to the farthest booth you can get to. The ones on the end always go faster. It's kind of hard to describe but since I am bored, I will try to show you.

X--X--X--X--X--X--X--X--X--X--X--X

---------------------------------LINE HERE

The X's are the CBP officers and the line ends where I wrote "line here." When they tell you to go to the end, have her go always to the extreme left. They move faster. The presupposes that they have not directed her somewhere else. Again, I wish I were in your shoes but I have not done this yet.

Fourth, one of the most annoying things to happen is in baggage claim. They tend to pull bags off and put them on the floor. I waited on one side for 20 minutes waiting on my bag and someone had pulled it off on the other side *after* I had already looked on that side. Just make sure she walks around the carousel every few minutes to look and see if her bags are on the floor.

Fifth, make sure she knows how to fill out the customs form if she hasn't been here before. It would suck to make it through everything only to have them search her bag again.

Again, there is a place to get a coke and a sandwich right next to the exit to the terminal and the information booth is a good rally point.

I think that is it. All of this is probably way more info than you need and don't let her feel intimidated or overwhelmed. If it's too much, just let her through at her own pace. This may only save her 10-20 minutes.

I got a lawyer for our visa. For me it has been more about peace of mind more than any real help. He gave us a list of all the stuff that we needed and helped us through a couple of minor issues and mistakes. Also, his staff speaks Russian so it saved me some difficulty in explaining the steps that we needed to take. He even prepped us that we were probably going to have a long wait. So for me, it has been a good move. If you feel like you can do it solo, as you can see a lot of people have done it. I just wanted to have someone on deck to help me if I hit a snag and so I wouldn't make any mistakes.

I finally looked at your signature. If you have photos of you, you fiance and your family together (everyone has to be in the photo) that is a good one to include. I went with just photos and copies of our passports. Since you have met, there's nothing stopping you from starting your application.

I started my K1 before I technically proposed. The only real issue with starting is that you have met in person before you file (which I had done). Other than a possible question during the interview, I don't think anyone is going to care how big the ring is, etc. Just make sure you have met in person *and* have some evidence of that meeting (photos, ticket, etc.) before you file.

Spoon thanks for the advice about the airport. I actually did send her a t-mobile sim card to help us connect in case we could not find each other. So much for that idea huh. Well at least no matter what, even if she must get in a taxi at least it will work somewhere. I am sure customs well be very thorough as you say. They do take their job seriously so that sandwich might come in handy.

There is an info desk right near where she will come out. She'll have to climb through some people to get to it (it's crowded there) but it is right next where she will come into the terminal from customs. I'd recommend that you make that your rally point. She should have cell coverage when she gets out of those doors though but if you are watching, you shouldn't miss her. I have a few more tips for IAD if you want them. I go through international arrivals there about every month.

Airlines do not care who pays for the ticket as long as they get their money. I have gotten my fiance a couple of tickets and hotel rooms while we have been waiting for out NOA2. The only issue I had was when I tried to get her upgraded to business with my miles. United had my card on file but the gate agent was expecting to see my card. She ended up having to pay more and pay in cash for the copay. Name or credit card never mattered. If there are any issues, usually the gate agent can take care of them. Just make sure you have Skype handy to call her if there are any issues.

Also, when she comes in through IAD, expect a wait. Now, my fiance was on a tourist visa so they ran her through the ringer (not rude or anything, just very thorough). At least there is a place to get a sandwich and a drink near the international arrivals. Your K1 may be faster but don't count on it. Even if she has a US SIM card, it won't work in the bowels of Dulles so it may be a long and lonely wait. Hopefully, she will shoot right through though.

My fiance came over on that flight (I think it is UA965). Put her name in English but it doesn't have to be exact. When I got her the ticket, I spelled her name my way (little bit shorter). However, if you want to avoid issues, spell it the same as the passport. She can even change it at the ticketing agent when she is at DME. I've had my name butchered before and the ticketing agent said it was fine (didn't have any issues).